


Wilted Rose

by PhazonFire



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: A sad, Angst and Feels, Baby Steven, Gems still don't completely understand human babies, Gen, Hospitals, Pearl has a breakdown, Sickfic Gone Wild, pnuemonia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 07:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11641479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhazonFire/pseuds/PhazonFire
Summary: When severe illness strikes a tiny baby Steven, Pearl is forced to come to terms with how fragile humans truly are.





	Wilted Rose

**Author's Note:**

> If I ever write another sickfic it'll probably be a lot more fluffy tbh

“Is...is he gonna die?”

“If his human body ceases to function, he could just retreat to his gem and regenerate a healthier one. You know that,” Pearl sighed, closing the “Dealing with Childhood Pneumonia” pamphlet the nurse had given her. 

“It’s just...if he poofs, is he gonna be strong enough to regenerate?” Amethyst mumbled halfheartedly, drawing her knees up to her chest on the cushioned waiting room chair. 

Pearl felt a lump growing in her throat, but refused to acknowledge it. “He’s a Crystal Gem. There’s no way he wouldn’t.”

“But he’s a baby,” Amethyst argued, growing more aggravated by the second. “He’s hardly shown any of Rose’s powers or even gem powers in general yet! He’s not even a full gem! How do we know if he could even retreat to his gem if he wanted?”

Pearl had no idea how to answer. Despite the hustle and bustle of the Beach City Memorial Emergency Room on a Saturday night, the world felt particularly silent at that moment. Talking was difficult--hunting for stains on the carpet was a much more manageable task. As Pearl’s eyes darted around the floor, desperate for distraction, thick tears welled up in Amethyst’s eyes. 

“Does...does Greg hate us?”

“He doesn’t hate you. He doesn’t blame anyone for this,” Sapphire replied softly, appearing from the West Wing hallway. Amethyst and Pearl both leapt to their feet as she approached. 

“Is he alright?”

“Is he dead?”

“Did he retreat to his gem?” 

“Yes, no, and no,” Sapphire answered calmly. “He’s running a very high fever, he’s on intravenous fluids and his coughing hasn’t improved. The doctors brought the X-rays back, and his lungs are full of fluid. They put him on antibiotics, but he’ll have to stay the night. Possibly, a few nights.”

Pearl bit her lip. “Human babies are so fragile,” she whispered sadly. 

“Is he hurting?” Amethyst breathed, as though her words could jinx Steven if she spoke too loudly. 

“He’s fussy from all of the coughing, but Greg’s been letting him suck on popsicles for his throat. I numbed his skin before they put the needles in, if that’s what you mean,” Sapphire replied, raising one hand--the fingertips still covered in tiny ice shards--to illustrate. 

“Are we...are we bad parents?” Pearl murmured, her voice trembling. 

Sapphire hopped up into the seat beside Pearl’s. “All human babies get sick, no matter how hard we try to keep them healthy. This is normal.”

“This is so far from normal,” Amethyst interjected in frustration, hot tears beginning a slow descent down her cheeks. “Rose would think we’re awful at raising Steven. I mean, look at where he ended up on our watch!”

“I sanitized everything, washed all of his toys after every use, gave him two baths a day and kept him from playing in bacteria-ridden areas. I even put a face mask on him when the pollen counts went up,” Pearl added. “I don’t get what went wrong. What did we miss?”

Sapphire let out a heavy sigh, placing her hand over Pearl’s as Pearl began to sob. Amethyst, tears gradually picking up speed, was poised to join the gem’s anguish any second. Looking to the future had provided no comforting clues--a single future existed in which Steven successfully recovered. A second one posed a much more threatening consequence in which Steven’s illness gradually worsened beyond repair, and a still-more-horrible third future presented the possibility that Steven’s fever would spike, and the tiny gem-human would not survive the night. Truly, Sapphire was at a loss in the comfort department. 

“Amethyst, why don’t you go see if Ruby and Greg need anything? Besides, Steven’s been looking for you for a little while now. He could use someone to snuggle with.”

Amethyst sniffled, brushing tears away with the back of her hand, and nodded, rising and shuffling solemnly towards the West Wing entrance. Sapphire turned her attention back to the quivering Pearl beside her. 

“And no, she won’t come back if he goes.”

“Wh-What?” Pearl stuttered, knots of guilt twisting around in her stomach.

“You’re going to ask if Rose will return if Steven dies.”

“I...I don’t want that, I was just...wondering. Is it wrong of me to think about things like that…?” Pearl muttered in embarrassment, hugging herself tightly. 

Sapphire shook her head, patting Pearl’s knee reassuringly. “You’re frustrated and in a difficult situation you don’t know how to handle. It’s natural that you’d look to Rose for guidance in a time like this, if not at the very least think about her.”

Pearl took a deep breath, her tears slowing in frequency. “He can’t retreat to his gem, can he?”

Sapphire shook her head once more. “He’s half-human. If his physical form is severely compromised or destroyed, he’ll cease to be. It would be as though his gem shattered.”

Pearl’s hand instinctively flew to her mouth, desperate to push back a rising tide of nausea and despair. 

“But this is Steven we’re talking about,” Sapphire continued firmly, startling Pearl. “This is Rose Quartz. I highly doubt she would go down without a fight. All we can do for now is trust him. We need to believe in Steven.”

Pearl tentatively wiped her tears as they fell. “I-I want to see him,” she whispered. 

Sapphire nodded, taking her hand as she stood up. With tension-filled steps and a journey that felt like eternity, Pearl finally found herself in front of Steven’s room, gritting her teeth as Sapphire turned the metal doorknob. And yet, the site she was greeted with was a pleasant one--Greg, sprawled out on a recliner and surrounded by Cookie Cat wrappers, snored loudly. On the bed laid a sandwich of Ruby and Amethyst, who had shapeshifted into a cat and was purring away in her sleep. At the center of the two gems rested a tiny swaddled Steven, clinging to Amethyst’s tail with miniscule fingers and buried underneath Ruby’s arm. 

“He stopped coughing as much,” Ruby muttered sleepily, scruffling the sleeping baby’s hair. “He passed out almost as soon as Amethyst came in. That sad sack over there has been passed out, though,” Ruby chuckled, jabbing her thumb in Greg’s direction. 

“He was worried,” Sapphire spoke with a smile. “He is a human, after all. He must be tired after all of this. Let him rest.”

Closing the door behind her, Pearl felt an unbearable surge of relief at the sight of a peaceful Steven, despite the consistent beeping of the heart monitor and the unsettling assortment of tubes trailing out of his arms. As the door clicked shut, Steven shifted in Ruby’s arms, tugging on Amethyst’s tail. “Perr,” he cooed, drooling and offering his new guests a gummy smile. 

“I’m here, Steven,” Pearl whispered as she approached the side of the bed, allowing Steven to curl his tiny fingers around one of hers. “It’s alright.”

She believed. Seeing his cherub face painless and alight once more, Pearl had no choice but to believe in Steven.


End file.
